Having your baptism of fire at the Marseille Vélodrome, many would have dreamed of it. Mr. Cayre will do it. The Lot-et-Garonnais will referee this Friday, at 35, his first Top 14 final, between Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux Bègles (UBB) in the den of the Marseille city. Official in the Top 14 for many years, Ludovic Cayre knows these two teams perfectly.
He also led the meeting between the RCT and Stade Toulousain in this same stadium, in Marseille, last April, during the twenty-first day of the championship. “I had the chance to officiate there recently for Toulon-Toulouse, it’s a very noisy stadium, very sonic, directing a final there necessarily adds spice to this meeting, we can’t wait to feel this very special atmosphere” , he confided after his appointment. The men of the Pink City had also lost by one point against the Toulonnais (20-19).
Black beast of Toulouse
Indeed, this season, the referee did not bring good news for the two finalists. Ludovic Cayre crossed paths with UBB four times and the Bordelais only won two meetings with Lot-et-Garonnais on the whistle. As for the French champions, they have simply never won a Top 14 match this season with Cayre on the refereeing body: two matches lost (out of two) when he was central referee and four (out of four) defeats in counting the matches where Mr. Cayre was a linesman.
This designation is a realization for the referee of the AOCC Duras XV (Lot-et-Garonne). Ludovic Cayre hoped to be able to play rugby as a player but, at the age of 16, he was sidelined after a serious injury. At 17, he became a referee and pursued his passion on the pitch in another way. This reconversion will allow him on Friday to be the man of all attention.
The referees
Field referee: Ludovic Cayre
Assistants: Thomas Charabas and Adrien Marbot
TMO : Eric Gauzins
